Chief Medical Officer to report on pros and cons of ‘non-clinical face coverings’

The First Minister is awaiting formal advice from the Chief Medical Officer over the use of non-clinical face coverings by the public, however has stressed any outcome would not see the public need competing with the health service.

Today we noted the First Minister’s comments last week how England is ‘not the touchstone’, and the Chief Medical Officer saying how other country reactions will be observed to help aid Welsh Government decision making. We asked what makes Wales different from the likes of Italy and Spain regarding facemask advice, and if preparation work was taking place now to supply the population with masks if required.

The First Minister told us, “I’ve been in discussion with the Chief Medical Officer this morning in fact on the subject of masks, and he is going to formalise his advice to the Welsh Government on the pros and columns of them.

“I want to be really clear about this, what we are talking about are not masks of the sort that they use in hospital.

“We will not go down the line, and neither have Scotland and neither was the Prime Minister, when he talked about this at the end of last week, we’re not going to embark on a course of action where members of the public ended up competing with the health service for the use of masks which are needed in a clinical setting, and for which there isn’t evidence for use in the community.

“What we are talking about are non-clinical face coverings. That’s the phrase the Scottish Government has used in its guidance.

“We will get formal advice now from the Chief Medical Officer in Wales about the pros and cons of making use of non clinical face coverings advisory here in Wales.”

You can view the full briefing from today, including the Q&A session below:

🎥 Yn fyw nawr | 🎥 Live now: https://t.co/GEjbOSEvwA

— Welsh Government (@WelshGovernment) May 4, 2020